1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for cooling and/or rinsing at least one steel wire and/or ribbon.
2. Description of Background Art
Cooling baths for wires intended for quenching steel wires with a view to obtaining transformation thereof have been known for a long time. It is possible to cite for example the patenting of steel wires comprising an isothermal quenching, that is to say a rapid cooling of tyres brought at the austenitic temperature into a perlitic formation zone where the wires are maintained more or less isothermally in order to ensure the substantially complete decomposition of the austenite and a detensioning of the steel.
Methods are known making use of molten lead or salt baths in which the wires to be cooled are immersed. These methods, which are very effective, are to be proscribed at the present time for reasons of toxicity and hazard to the environment.
Methods are also known making use of aqueous baths. During immersion in such a water bath, with laminar non-turbulent flow, a film of vapour forms all around the wires to be cooled, which slows down the cooling (see for example EP-A-0 216 434).
In order to judiciously control the intensity and speed of cooling, as well as keeping the wires as isothermal as possible during their perlitic transformation, it has also been proposed to make the wires pass through several laminar-flow water baths, with on each occasion the formation of a film of vapour around the wires to be cooled, and, between various aqueous baths, in alternation a cooling by air, during which the vapour film disappears (see for example EP-B-0 524 689). Such a method has the drawback of being technically very difficult to apply and to calculate in order to correctly determine when the steel wires have reached the required temperature.
Devices for cooling steel wires are also known comprising nozzles from which high-pressure water jets can be applied to the wires to be treated (see BE-A-832391). This fairly complex device does not allow fine adjustment of the cooling temperature, requires the use of a high-pressure circulation pump and a circuit of pipes, reservoirs and nozzles which are susceptible to problems of blockage.
Aqueous baths are also known whose purpose is the rinsing of steel wires for example before and/or after an acid pickling bath.
It should be noted that all these liquid baths according to the prior art require a liquid pumping system which consumes a great deal of energy.